158 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
to mud farther offshore, although sand was also found at times in considerable depths. 
On the fishing-banks its character is variable, as described elsewhere. 
Dredging and fishing trials were made at frequent intervals down the coast as 
far as Orford Reef, Oregon, leaving a distance of about 48 miles between that place 
and the State line, over which no fishery investigations have yet been made; but the 
continental platform is there very narrow. 
There are very few defined fishing- grounds on the coasts of Washington and 
Oregon, and those which occur are of small extent. The largest and most important 
one lies about 11 miles northwesterly from Cape Flattery, and has a total area of 
about 1,100 square miles. Another, covering only about 110 square miles, is situated 
off the coast between Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay. A still smaller bank or rocky 
patch is located about 19 miles southwesterly from Yaquina Head; its area has been 
estimated at 40 square miles. Heceta Bank, lying off the Siuslaw River, is next in 
importance to Flattery Bank, having an extent of about 600 square miles. 
The small extent of the banks, however, does not indicate a scarcity of fishery 
resources, as fishes of excellent food quality were found to be pretty generally dis- 
tributed over the surface of the platform throughout a large part of the region, as 
described further on. In the immediate vicinity of exposed rocks lying near the coast, 
which are inhabited by sea lions, fishes were noticed to be rare if not entirely absent 
in most cases, Orford Reef, however, presenting a notable exception in this respect. 
The halibut and the true cod ( Oadus morrhua ) are the species which have been 
most eagerly sought for by the fishermen along these coasts, but no traces of the 
latter were discovered by the Albatross. The halibut, however, ranges as far south as 
Monterey, Cal., although it has nowhere been found sufficiently abundant to afford 
the basis for a special fishery except on Flattery Bank. Scattering specimens were 
taken by the Albatross off Flattery Rocks, off Tillamook Rock, and on Heceta Bank, 
but the resources of this bank have not yet been fully tested. The species has also 
been recorded from off Cape Mendocino. The fact that the Indians south of Cape 
Flattery do not include the halibut among their supplies of food may be regarded as 
additional evidence that this fish will not be found in any numbers, near the shore at 
least, within this region. 
Several species of rockfish (Sebastodes) were abundant upon the banks as well as 
upon the sandy bottom of the platform. Flounders were taken everywhere, but were 
most plentiful between depths of 50 and 100 fathoms. A number of species were 
discovered, some of which are of excellent food quality, and they will offer strong 
inducements for the introduction of beam-trawl fishing whenever a market has been 
established for them. Cultus-cod ( Ophiodon elongatus) were obtained on all the banks 
and on Orford Reef. Black-cod (Anoplopoma fimbria) of good size inhabit the deeper 
waters, while smaller individuals, together with the ling or Pacific whiting ( Merlucius 
productus), occur in moderate depths. Large red edibles hrimps were also frequently 
captured in the beam trawl; they are distributed through a considerable depth of 
water. 
The principal obstacle at present to the development of extensive sea fisheries on 
the outer coast of Washington and the coast of Oregon is the lack of markets for dis- 
posing of the catch. The scarcity of good harbors is also a very serious inconven- 
ience, and as those which do exist are encumbered with bars, they can be entered in 
bad weather only with much difficulty. Although gales are of rare occurrence during 
